SANFL honours Sharon Stephens with life membership — a first for a woman in Australian football’s oldest league

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SHARON Stephens made history 23 years ago when she took an SANFL job — managing Football Park — in a seat once considered only for men.

Stephens, now in the same role at Adelaide Oval, last night changed the history books as the first woman to be honoured with life membership in the 141-year-old football league.

“I’ve not had an issue in being a woman in a male-dominated game ... or what was a man’s game until recently,” Stephens told The Advertiser. “I’ve never felt the odd one out.

“But (this life membership honour) does come from left field when I look at who has been honoured before me. So many others have been more deserving than me.

“I had absolutely no idea this would come with a role I’ve enjoyed from the start.”

SANFL president John Olsen dismissed Stephens’ self-deprecation, saying “Sharon is without peer in her field”.

“She is recognised by the AFL as the best stadium manager in Australia,” Olsen said. “Cricket Australia and the AFL hail Sharon’s professionalism and her attention to every detail so nothing is left to chance at any event at Adelaide Oval and previously at Football Park.

“To be the first woman to be given SANFL life membership underscores the standout person she is.”

Camera IconSharon Stephens is recognised as the best stadium manager in Australia, says SANFL president John Olsen.Picture: News Limited

Stephens joined the SANFL part-time staff in 1980 as a casual at Football Park while still a student. She kept that role as the “second job” until the end of the 1995 season when the restructure of SA football — with a second AFL licence handed to Port Adelaide — forced the SANFL to put ground management in a full-time portfolio.

“The journey has been challenging — and busy,” Stephens said. “And that is the beauty of it — every day is different so that what I do is not a chore, it is not a job and there is not a day when I am clock watching wanting to go home.”

But as well prepared as Stephens and her staff are at Adelaide Oval, there is no relaxing in an environment that has sporting events a security risk.

“With every event, even the recent Ed Sheeran concert with 67,000 people at the Oval, I have a sick feeling with what could go wrong and is out of your control,” Stephens said. “What makes it easier is the great people I work with — they make the difference.”

Olsen noted Stephens’ status across Australia was underlined when she was chosen to manage Adelaide Oval.

“And the results Sharon has achieved speak for themselves,” Olsen said. “Adelaide Oval’s reputation — not only nationally but internationally — is due to the exceptional management team. Sharon is an integral part of that group.

“Both Cricket Australia and certainly the AFL have written and spoken of her professionalism.

“She is highly regarded by her peers. There wouldn’t be too many with that pedigree in Australian sport, certainly no other women.”